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Jim Crute def. Sam Alvey at UFC 234: Best photos

And on the other, if the shoe was on the other foot, he wouldn’t be mixing metaphors – he’d be griping, too, he said.

Crute (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) opened up the UFC 234 main card on Saturday with a first-round TKO of Sam Alvey (33-12 MMA, 10-7 UFC). The problem was, Alvey pretty clearly gave a thumbs-up to referee Marc Goddard, hoping to indicate to him that he was OK with the punches he was taking, and presumably to signal that he was about to try to work his way out of the bad spot.

Alvey was turtled up and covering up while Crute dropped punches down when Goddard shut things down, saying Alvey wasn’t responsive enough. Alvey immediately jumped up to protest the decision, and replays showed most of the punches were hitting his hands and shoulders.

“If I had kept going, I was either going to sink in a choke or knock him out cold,” Crute told MMAjunkie after the fight. “Nothing but respect for him – I would probably be arguing. When you get knocked out like that, you don’t know what happens. That first one, he was out, and then he came back.”

Crute put Alvey on the canvas before the controversial finish, but instead of going in for the proverbial kill, he appeared to want a walkoff finish. But Goddard didn’t shut things down, and Crute’s delayed reaction allowed Alvey to recover enough to stay in the fight a little longer.

But when Crute did get the finish, it was shrouded in question marks and Alvey was incensed and letting anyone in the cage know, including Crute.

“He was going off and I sort of said, ‘Sam, it is what it is. Chill out, bro,'” Crute said. “Everyone knows Sam Alvey is the nicest guy on the roster. But when you get knocked out like that, it sort of turns you a bit loopy.”

Even UFC President Dana White took issue with the stoppage at UFC 234, which took place at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass.

But regardless, it goes into the books as a win for Crute at light heavyweight and kept him unbeaten overall, and 2-0 in the UFC. Both wins have come in front of his home fans in Australia.

Next up, Crute will take … well, anyone.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m known as a guy who I don’t really care who I fight. They can just bring ’em all. I’ll fight ’em all one after the other. I’m not saying I can beat everyone, but I’ll fight everyone. I’ve got no problem. … I can beat everyone, though.”